steamy
by thir13enth
Summary: "Just apply heat." A collection of Zutara, perhaps for a more mature audience.
1. Kill, Fuck or Marry

**Hey all, first time writing some Avatar fanfiction—finally got around to watching it as my friends had recommended so here I am! Yay.**

**But I was definitely rooting for more Zutara as the series went on, and as we all know, it unfortunately did not happen. But that's also precisely why FanFiction exists!**

**Anyway, I really hope I don't get bombed for this title, I tried to tone it down a bit…and this story is AU, I'm just puppeting the characters at my own will (muahaha!) Sorta slow in the beginning but I promise some light Zutara fluff towards the end!**

**Enjoy!**

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**Kill, Fuck or Marry**

**Caption: Katara is having a hard time making a decision, so Zuko makes the choice for her.**

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After having traveled quite a while in what seemed like a never ending forest, the gang's heavy eyelids and whining stomachs were delighted to come across a charming little village of cottages, straw huts with streams of white smoke lifting from the opening in their roofs, filling the crisp night air with the warm aroma of a thick meat broth.

Sokka surely couldn't resist the temptation to stop for the night, planning to play the Avatar card to get some rest in what seemed like a comfortable space and of course, a protein-enriched meal.

"Sokka, this isn't a time to stop—Toph has been missing for two whole days," scolded his sister, who was visibly concerned, her eyebrows furrowed against the sleepy bags under her eyes. "We have to find her."

However, Aang quickly noticed her disapproving stomach growling and suggested, "It might be best to take a rest while we can—we don't know what's going to happen in the future when we eventually do find her."

The Avatar had a point, so Katara agreed.

"Alright! Let's find the house that smells like it has the best food!" and off the boomerang guy went checking out each and every cottage. He stopped at one towards the center and without waiting for the other three to catch up, quickly rapped on the wooden door.

A brown haired, emerald eyed girl hesitantly opened the door, giving all four of them a quick glance before saying, "Hi?"

"Hi lady, we're hungry travelers that need a place to stay for the night; can we please come in and eat that delicious-smelling food?" Sokka pleaded quickly, down on his knees and hands clasped.

She looked strangely at them. "Uh…"

"We're with the Avatar," Zuko added, giving her a wave and pointing to the shorter kid, who gave her a thumbs up.

"That's okay; it doesn't matter," said the girl. "I just didn't want to promise any food in case we didn't have any left." She opened the door more widely. "You should come in and rest anyway though. We usually have a few beds open for weary travelers."

**divider**

After their bellies were warm and full of what was left in the pot, the girl directed them to a corner room at the end of the hallway.

"I hope you guys don't mind—we just have two—"

"I call the one on the left!" Sokka barged in through the door, throwing his stuff onto the mattress. The other two gave each other competitive glances before throwing out their hands in a rock, paper, scissors game.

"We'll leave those three to figure it all out," the girl smiled, waving them off while she guided Katara to the next room. "Here, we have a room just for you," she said, her hand in the direction of the open door. "We thought you might want a separate room at least for this night."

Katara sighed in relief, "You got that right." Finally! A night of rest without the bother of those bumbling idiots! She admitted it was a better idea to have gotten some rest under some shelter for sooner than later. There was no telling what the extent of her tolerance for the guys was.

These times when she was the only female in the group did she realize how much she valued having Toph as a companion. At least Toph was sensible.

She collapsed onto the bed, taking in a deep breath of the fragrance of clean laundry.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Katara said, flipping over. "We never got to know your name, even after all your hospitality!"

"That's okay; it's an honor to be helping you guys out, especially after all you guys have done so far, and what you guys will be doing," said the girl. "I'm Su Lin, by the way. And you're…?"

"Katara, and thank you so much!"

"It must be hard, huh? Traveling with just guys?" Su Lin asked, walking over to sit by Katara's side.

"Yeah…well no, we have another girl on the team but she isn't with us right now," Katara answered.

"Well…" said Su Lin. "I wouldn't mind traveling with you guys at all—if it wasn't that I have to stay here in order to help my family with the farm! I think I'm already old enough anyway—I'm fourteen!"

"Oh yeah?" Katara asked, curiosity piqued. The waterbender realized that she probably would enjoy the adventures more if Su Lin had been able to join them—if there was someone her age and gender that she could share her feelings with. And Su Lin was practically the same age as her; no wonder it was so easy to talk with her over the dinner table! "Why? Just because you like adventure and traveling?"

Su Lin clarified. "I _do _like adventure and getting out of the house more, but mainly…" and her voice dropped to a low volume here, "you are traveling with some _cute _guys, you know?"

Even Katara's caramel mocha colored skin couldn't hide the spontaneous blush that crept up to her skin, and she broke out into an embarrassed cold sweat.

"I-I guess I'm around them so much that I barely even notice!" she excused, but the other girl pressed further.

"But you have to admit it, right?" Su Lin asked, her right eyebrow raising.

Katara let herself imagine the three guys in her head. Well she could admit that her brother was actually developing into a handsome man, especially knowing how the girls all over the places they went just kept tripping and falling for him. As for Aang and Zuko however…

She closed her eyes, squeezing her eyes shut and ridding any sort of images of those two from her head. She couldn't afford to think of either of them that way!

"I don't know…" Katara said, her hands over her face. "I just…I shouldn't be thinking about this!"

"Oh but how could you _not_?" Su Lin adopted an extremely dreamy look on her face. "I mean, you're spending so much time with them!"

The waterbender tried to shrug off the talk, bringing her knees in.

"Here," Su Lin suggested. "Looks like you might have a few things to get off your chest!"

"Oh no no, it's okay!"

"I insist," she replied, closing the door to the room. Seeing Katara's shy aversive eyes, Su Lin thought of a solution.

"How about we play a game of Kill, Fuck or Marry to get us started?"

**divider**

"You guys were talking about us, huh?"

Startled, Katara jerked up, the covers of her bed kicking up and her frazzled hair falling over her head in every nonconventional direction, spilling over her eyes and ears. She pushed the mess back over her head.

"Zuko!" she exclaimed at the silhouette that leaned against the door frame. "What are you doing here?"

"Asking you a question," he replied smoothly, making his way toward her bed.

Perhaps she had never noticed it before or perhaps it was just an aftereffect of having talked a couple of hours with Su Lin earlier that night, but the prince did have some sort of a grace about him, which only seemed heightened in the moonlight that trickled in through the window. The shadows that cast over him allowed his dark elegance to surface over his slim figure—

She was shaken out of her thoughts when the mattress under her wobbled a bit under his having sat at the foot of her bed.

"No, we weren't," she answered defiantly.

His face made an expression that told Katara that he knew that was bullshit.

She gave up trying to make up a lie on the spot. "What makes you think that we were talking about _you_ guys?"

"Besides the fact that you two were flame red in the face when you guys found out we were behind the door?"

"Well, we could have honestly been talking about anyone…or anything, for that matter!" she retorted.

"I have a younger sister whose friends used to come over all the time," he simply stated, backing his right to come to the conclusion.

Katara didn't see her 'say nothing' solution working against the stubborn yet intuitively correct firebender and gave out a great sigh. "Okay…so what if we were?"

He smiled in satisfaction of having already known the truth. "Well?"

"I am _not _discussing what we talked about," she quickly said, taking immediate offense. "It's all just girl talk—it shouldn't concern you."

The prince shrugged, knowing precisely how to get his way without seeming to demand very much. "I'm just curious. Enlighten me."

She shook her head and pointed at the door. "Get out."

"Aw, come on now, you're no fun," he said with a sly drawl, leaning backwards to lay his back over the end of her mattress, his hands behind his head. "I won't tell anyone else…"

She rolled her eyes, crossing her arms with a scoff. "If anything, you're the _last _person I'd tell about any of this," she mumbled under her breath.

But he caught her words and lifted a curious eyebrow, tilting his head in her direction. "Oh?"

"Yeah," she reaffirmed, not sure what else to say, but knowing she didn't want to give up her position.

Zuko faced the ceiling again, closing his eyes knowingly. "So if I was the _last _person you'd tell anything, then I guess you guys had the _most_ to say about me." He let out an approving grunt. "I can live with that."

Her heart stopped for a moment. Damn it—he was being such a tricky bastard and making her give away all this information! "You can't assume that," she argued firmly.

"But I will," he said, sitting up again. "And I bet that you guys played that Kill, Fuck or Marry game too," he continued, poking her mockingly.

"I don't even know what you're talking about," she said, slapping away his intrusive arm.

"What did you eventually decide to do with me?" he pressed further.

"What are you saying?" Despite her evasive answers, she could feel him slowly gaining momentum and catching up with her, something she couldn't let _ever _let happen.

He laughed once, playing along with her game. "Alright then. Since I guess you don't know, I'll explain it to you. You're given three people to choose from, and you can either decide to kill, fuck, or marry them."

A déjà vu was never more threatening.

"Now, what about you give it a try?" he offered. "Aang, Jet, and…me," he concluded, a sly look sliding over his countenance.

Terror gripped her in its tight arms. A nervous chatter began to build between her teeth, but it was unlike any sort of danger she had experienced before. In fact, this wasn't even any sort of danger—this was just Zuko messing around with her! Why was she cracking under his teasing? He was just making fun of her—she shouldn't let it get over her head! She resolved that whatever she answered for his little game (since she knew he wasn't going to give it up now) doesn't mean anything and that she should care for such a stupid immature thing like this.

The fire prince saw in her hard cerulean eyes that she wasn't going to answer, and so, "Okay, I'll make it easier for you. Just tell me which option you'd choose for me." She suddenly realized the firebender was much closer to her than she realized, and she felt herself slowly slipping back down underneath the covers of her bed.

"I'm not telling you," she sneered.

"Come on now, this is just a childish game," he cooed, now placing both his hands to either side of her shoulders, trapping her from any sort of escape. "I'm sure you're mature enough to talk about things like this…unless you're having a hard time deliberating all of this, of course."

"I'm old enough to not really care about this! In fact, I already know my answer," she spat back.

But did she want to confess _that _to him? To him, who was at the moment practically hovering over her?

"So which will it be, Katara?" he asked softly, his breath falling on her neck. A chill ran down through the remainder of her spine. She was paralyzed and found herself unable to do nothing but trace the handsome features of his profile with eyes that could not resist sketching the way his night black hair fell ungoverned over his forehead and threatened to tickle her neck, exchanging gazes with his amber gold eyes that could barely contain his passion to pursuing an answer from her, sculpting the shadows of firm muscles over his biceps, following the masculine edges of the rest of his body that was poised over her…

She felt her face flush and she could barely get her words out. "Give me a second to think about it."

He gave her a half-smile that melted her, prevented her from getting away, stopped her from running away from admitting…

"No…" he said, denying her answer and shaking his head lightly, which also shook out the fragrant musk that wafted from his smooth skin. "You said you already decided. I want your answer for this moment right now."

Her breath caught in her throat. "For right _now_?" she squeaked, her eyes parked on his firm lips and defined jawline, a couple of tense muscles trailing down the length of his neck, leading way to his well-formed collarbones.

"I think you already know the answer."

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**Hm...to continue or to not continue...**

**thir13enth**


	2. Paralyzer

**Hey yo, my readers! I've decided that instead of writing a bunch of separated Zutara one-shots like I was doing before, I'd just put them all into a single compilation! Expect drabbles, shorts, and much strangeness, but it's all Zutara to heart!**

**Enjoy! This one was—indeed—inspired by Finger Eleven's song!**

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**Paralyzer**

**Caption: If your body matches what your eyes can do, you'll probably move right through me on my way to you.**

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It was stupid really. Almost cliché.

Zuko isn't sure if she's actually hot or if the drink in his hands is making her v-neck that much deeper and her waist that much more delicious.

His amber eyes flicks over the supple curve that follows her well-defined collarbone.

The crackle of melting ice in his honey-gold drink snaps his attention back to the glass in his hand.

Half-empty.

Or perhaps half-full, if she was to turn to his side of the bar and refill his drink, saying something sexy with pouted lips and a crack of a sultry smile: "Want more? I can fill that up for you…"

"Maybe another shot of _you_…" he replies smoothly to the fantasy in his head, crunching ice between his molars, gaze quite conspicuously following the valley straight down her top.

Blue eyes shoot him a glance. Sharp, piercing, cold—the striking beauty of it runs right through him.

"Can I help you?" she asks, and while the statement is grammatically a question, her voice is a low threatening growl.

Zuko isn't sure if he's frightened by her demeanor or just more turned on.

He takes a final gulp of his alcohol and then shakes the glass at her, the ice chirping his demand for more in his cup.

Her hands rise to her hips, fists resting right at the full curve of her god-awful-sexy waist. She bites her lip before snapping back at him.

It's sexy and he can't help but slump further into his seat.

"I don't take commands," she says simply.

A smirk whisks over his jaw. "Oh but you take orders, don't you?"

The tough girl composure she was putting on cracks for a moment, her eyes widening slightly.

He doesn't stop there. "…and I'll have another glass…_please_."

She sneers, looking away and turning around, her arm swinging behind her to take his glass right out of his right hand. She walks away to give him another round. She gives him an evil stare when she returns with his glass, filled to the brim with gold and foam.

He raises the drink to his mouth and takes a long swig before clunking down the glass to the counter, emphatically sighing in pleasure from the quenching alcohol.

"You wanted to spit in my drink, didn't you?" he accuses her, sly grin still perched on his face.

"You have no idea how bad I want to do it now."

He tries to twist her words, even in his half-sober state. "You want to do what now? Me?"

She slams her hands down on the counter between them. She leans in, clarifies, "Spit in your damn drink." The last syllable passes off her tongue like a curse.

He follows her lead, inches his face closer to hers so that all he sees are those dagger cobalt blue eyes.

"Then you might as well as make-out with me—if we're trading spit." Zuko doesn't know if he's making any sense. He is getting drunk over alcohol and seduction.

A warped type of seduction, yes, but seduction nevertheless.

She withdraws, breathing in deeply and tucking her displaced hair behind her ear. She turns and walks away from him, going to entertain herself with drunken customers on the far end of the bar.

"Oi…" he calls out. "You can't just walk away from me—what if I need to give you another order?"

She points to a sign in the far distance. He doesn't look where her finger leads.

"We have the right to refuse service," she says coyly.

Zuko shrugs, and then jerks his hand to intentionally spill some alcohol all over the counter.

The bartender realizes that she is not winning this battle and is even more annoyed now that she has to wipe the bar counter on top of that all.

She storms back to his mischievous self, whipping out a new towel from under the counter. She roughly begins wiping, letting the spilled alcohol splash over his sleeve.

"What did I do to you in the first place? Why don't you like me, huh?"

She doesn't answer him. He notices that she is so furious that the bounty of breast beneath her top is wavering up and down along with the motion of her cleaning. He relishes the sight.

"What if you actually liked me?" he asks. "Would I get more than a drink?" And his chin protrudes slightly to vaguely point toward her well-filled chest.

She stops her work for a second and sweetly snarls, "Even if I did like you, I don't cross any lines. You see this counter? I don't cross it. I never cross the bar."

He puts on a pained expression. "Oh but not even for me?" he asks, almost sarcastically.

Her face hovers dangerously over his once again. "_Especially_ not for you." She has a smile that could kill angels. She scoffs and reaches the towel to the farthest side of the bar from her, the rag practically reaching his work disheveled shirt and loosened tie.

He didn't like the mixed messages that she was giving him, because her actions just gave him a glimpse of her lace bra and the mocha cream skin of her navel.

Decision made, he growled, "Then _I'll _fucking cross the bar," over her lips. And he slipped over the hard wood, her hands slipping over his own.

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**Pun? ;)**

**Please review!**

**thir13enth**


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